Konami’s biggest stumbling block in recent years with regards to its Pro Evolution Soccer franchise has been its lack of official licenses. However in an attempt to attract more gamers to the series, Konami have announced that they have secured the EURO 2016 license for PES.
Unfortunately, it won’t feature when PES launches worldwide next month, with details about when and how the license will be activated by Konami coming in early 2016.
The license will see Konami recreate next years European Championships which are taking place in France and will feature 24 nations for the first time in the competitions history.
“We are very happy to expand our successful collaboration with Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. to our national team competitions. KONAMI is a great licensing partner and has provided top-quality video games for our club competitions for many years,” said Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director at UEFA Events SA. “We look forward to this newest extension of the PES series, created specifically for UEFA EURO 2016, further engaging with football fans around Europe and the world.”
Konami have already secured the official Champion’s League and Europa League licenses, offering an authentic matchday compeition when it comes to competing in Europe, one of the areas FIFA currently lacks. EA secured the license for the last Euro’s however, offering the Euro 2012 game-mode as a piece of DLC. Konami may opt for something similar for PES 2016. As the game won’t launch with the license or the tournement and next year’s iteration of PES releasing after the Euro’s have been concluded, it would only make sense if it was added as DLC or to the hope of many PES gamers, a free update.
Afterall, PES players have lacked official licensing for years so offering a free update would be a big thank you to all of its supporters and fans.
“We are extremely proud to be working with UEFA regarding EURO 2016,” stated Erik Bladinieres, European brand director of Football for Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. “The PES series is famed for showing football at its very best and is created by a team that truly loves and understands it. We are committed to representing EURO 2016 moving forward in a way that truly reflects the status of this epic tournament. EURO 2016 is a stunning gathering of European talent and we are committed to producing the definitive representation of top-level football.”
You can check out the new PES gameplay trailer from Gamescom below.